Claim One Day a Week (or at least a month) for the Movement

I propose that our movements within each locality agree to one day a week—or at least a month—where they will commonly hold events and actions, in order to consistently taste and practice a revolutionary mass culture within the context of these non-revolutionary times.

Here’s a proposal that I think is fun, worth at least experimenting with, but also kind of wacky.

For me, some of my favorite, most lasting memories within social movements have been my opportunities to attend large festivals, gatherings, conferences, and especially Social Forums. When one is at that kind of event, where there are all sorts of things going on at once, and people are all around you talking about different things, there is a certain energy in the atmosphere that is really special. Even though—maybe even because—there are all sorts of things competing with each other for your time, and you can’t possibly go and experience all of it, the overall atmosphere is electric. That kind of energy doesn’t exist when people just go to one meeting a week here, or one event on a weeknight there. When we’re away from those big gatherings for too long, real life can start to break us down and alienate us. The dominant culture drags us back into its clutches.

I think our movements in any given locale could agree to do something really simple that could more regularly create that charged and thrilling atmosphere, giving us an extra little break from the system. Our groups could commonly agree to schedule at least one event, congregation gathering, assembly, march, picket, picnic, training, concert or anything else on the same day of the week, every week—or at least once every month. Probably unsurprisingly, I suggest Sunday.

While this idea may seem to defy logic by forcing groups to step on each others’ toes in terms of attendance, I believe that is actually a sort of perpetual scarcity way of seeing things—like we don’t have enough people to go around. With a growth-oriented perspective that looks past our own particular issues and projects to the bigger picture, including the entire general population as potential participants, this idea could help us create a powerful “Revolutionary Sunday” (or Monday or Thursday) culture, where people couldn’t possibly attend all of the events that they wanted to, but where that was actually a sign of strength. Regardless of your pet issues, or your chosen activities, by simply being out in the movement on that day, you could help the movement feel more alive. Kind of like a farmer’s market or flea market on a Saturday morning—even if you don’t buy anything from all or any of the booths, just walking around helps create a bustling vibe.

I think it could be so powerful if we could eventually reach a point where just asking, “hey, what are you doing this Sunday?” could become a lively political question across our movements.